Registered referendum campaigners had to ensure that all invoices for referendum expenses had been sent by the supplier within 30 days of the poll; and paid within 60 days of the poll.

It is an offence for the campaigner to pay an invoice after these deadlines unless they have applied for and been granted ‘leave to pay’ by the Commission. We will grant leave to pay if, on the facts of the case as set out by the campaigner, we believe they had a ‘reasonable excuse’ for missing the deadline.

We have received one leave to pay application to date from a campaigner spending under £250,000 on campaigning at the referendum. The summary details are:

The Scottish independence referendum was well run, with high levels of voter satisfaction in the voting process.

Our report identifies important lessons from Scotland about how to run future referendums successfully, including the expected referendum on further devolution in Wales and a possible referendum on UK membership of the European Union.

Memorandum of understanding with the Chief Counting Officer

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chief Counting Officer (CCO) for the referendum.

The memorandum outlined how we and the CCO dealt with areas where our responsibilities met to ensure that the referendum was run efficiently, effectively and in the best interests of the voters and campaigners.

Our advice on the referendum question and spending limits

On 30 January 2013, we published our views on the Scottish Government's proposed independence referendum question. We also set out our advice on what campaign spending limits at the referendum should be.

Our advice on campaign spending limits for the referendum

Additional information

You can view minutes from discussions about the independence referendum at Board meetings held on 16 and 24 January 2013. Various Board papers that were prepared for discussion at those meetings are also available.

Our views on the referendum on independence for Scotland

Below you can find statements and briefings we have issued since UK Government's announcement on the Scottish referendum in January 2012. These include our views on legislation, responses to consultations and press statements.

Referendum agreement - October 2012

Statement on Scottish referendum question assessment - July 2012

Responding to a proposal from the three main opposition parties in Scotland that the Electoral Commission should assess a question submitted to it by a panel of experts we issued the following statement:

Our response to the UK Government's announcement on the Scottish referendum - January 2012

Note to Scottish Affairs Committee - July 2012

At a recent evidence session the Scottish Affairs Committee invited our views on the issues that campaigners would need to consider if they wish to set up voluntary arrangements for disclosing information about funding and/or spending before the start of the referendum period.

Response to Scottish and UK Government’s consultations on the Scottish referendum - March 2012

We published a single response to the consultation papers on a Scottish referendum from the UK Government (Scotland’s constitutional future) and the Scottish Government (Your Scotland, Your Referendum).